‘NCIS’ season 11 spoilers: Michael Weatherly on Cote de Pablo, exciting future for DiNozzo

We understand how you may be sad to see Cote de Pablo leave “NCIS” after the first two episodes of season 11. After all, much of the cast feels the same way; and while they are interested to see what comes next for them, it is always emotional to have to say goodbye to characters that you have become attached to over the years.

One person who is going to miss Cote perhaps more than anyone is somebody that spent a great deal of time with her over the years: Michael Weatherly. Tony and Ziva were the show’s primary “will they or won’t they?” couple, and there were a few moments here and there that felt like we were going to finally see them get together.

In speaking out extensively about seeing his co-star leave, Weatherly tells TVLine that there is going to be a great deal of story to look forward to for “Tiva” fans, and also explains what it has been like working with Cote over the past several years:

“I can’t give away all the pinpoints, but I found the first two episodes immensely satisfying. I was very surprised by the things I read in those scripts … I think that for DiNozzo and for me as an actor, that ‘holding pattern’ has been incredibly fun to play — I love working with Cote, she’s awesome — but also it’s been eight years, and we haven’t dealt with it. It will be dealt with.” 

Weatherly teases that Ziva’s exit will carry into what is an exciting story for Tony, and he is looking forward to playing that. As for how the show has managed to stay successful even with there being so many constant changes that have taken place over the years, Weatherly simply credited the ability of the writers to continually shake things up and still find balance among the cast.

Weatherly is not the only person speaking out now about the exit of Cote from the show. If you click here, you can also see what Pauley Perrette had to say about these final episodes for the actress, and how she will miss her.

Photo: CBS